The medium is the message

The message behind rocket firing from Lebanon is that there is no security for Israel, says Omayma Abdel-Latif

---

The repeated rocket firing from south Lebanon targeting settlements in occupied Palestine shows how vulnerable the 1701 ceasefire resolution is to any accidental or unexpected event.

The incidents, twice in one week, were the biggest test for the ceasefire that had held for two years now. It revived strong fears, particularly among the locals in the southern villages, of a possible confrontation between Hizbullah and Israel. Many firmly believe it has been long coming. The present stand-off, nonetheless, clearly shows that the two parties do not have the will for a full-scale war, at least for now.

The identity of the perpetrators is not clear. Some point to groups based in any of the six Palestinian camps in the south; others point to Sunni fundamentalists who wanted to take revenge against Israel for the Gaza genocide. Still others blame Israel agents who supposedly planted the rockets in order to give Israel a pretext to launch a war on Lebanon. But the identity of the perpetrators is less important than the message behind the rockets. The action shows that Israel can't take for granted the security of its northern borders. The presence of 35,000 UNIFIL troops along with almost 20,000 Lebanese troops apparently are not enough.

Some commentators close to the 14 March movement suggest that while Hizbullah might not be behind the firing, it surely knows who the perpetrators are. Hizbullah, goes the widely held assumption, has a tight hand over the south by virtue of it being the dominant political force and having the bulk of its popular bases there. The resistance movement, nonetheless, repeatedly denies any link to the firing. The second rocket firing incident which took place last Wednesday has been strongly condemned by Hizbullah members. Mohamed Fneish, Labour minister in the government, said that rocket fire from the south is "an Israeli aggression on Lebanon. We do not know who fired those rockets and we are not concerned with finding out because this will be doing service to the Israeli aggressor."

His words indicated that Hizbullah would not cooperate with any investigation seeking to reveal the identity of the culprits because this would be seen as working to make Israel feel secure. This, said Fneish, was the responsibility of UNIFIL and the Lebanese army. The same view was reiterated by Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker and head of Amal movement, Hizbullah's partner in the south. Berri told reporters on Monday that, "we are not guardians for Israel to look for those who committed such acts." He said he met with the different Palestinian factions who denied any association with the rockets. Berri said the Lebanese army has been tipped about the perpetrators.

The army is tight-lipped regarding the issue but it has been actively searching the area in coordination with UNIFIL. It carried out joint patrolling activities where troops found an arms cache of 24 rockets that were described as "old and unusable". On 9 January, a team of UN peacekeepers and Lebanese army troops found an old cache of rockets near the border with Israel a day after the first rocket firing incident took place. UNIFIL said the cache, consisting of 34 Grad-P rockets and some boxes of ammunition, were found in two old bunkers covered by camouflage nets and appeared to date from the 2006 war between Lebanon's Hizbullah forces and Israel. "There is no sign of any recent use of the bunkers and the weapons appear to date from the period of the 2006 conflict," a UNIFIL statement said.

UNIFIL sources said an investigation was opened but sources say that the Israeli military command is denying members of Truce Monitoring Committee access to the places where Israel claimed the rockets had fallen. UNIFIL statement fell short of openly criticising Israel for obstructing the investigation, though its actions can only fuel suspicions that Israel has something to hide.

The latest incident took place in Al-Hebbariyeh village where the last three rockets were fired only a few metres away from Al-Iman school, affiliated to the Lebanese Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya. Fingers were pointed at Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya particularly since the second rocket firing coincided with press reports that the group -- a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot -- was reviving its military wing and had its fighters on full alert. But Jamaa sources fiercely deny any involvement in the two rocket firing incidents. They, nonetheless, acknowledge that much effort is geared towards reviving their military wing, established in 1982 under the title Qowat Al-Fajr (forces of dawn).

Their decision had long been under discussion, but efforts were stepped up following the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Although Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya members refused to state publicly how many fighters they have, Omar Al-Masri, a young member, described the military wing as a resistance movement which will defend the Sunni villages of the south in case of fresh Israeli aggression. Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya has a presence in many of the 15 villages of Al-Arqub region the majority of whose residents are Sunni. They have educational as well as medical institutions. In the July 2006 war, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya was part of the resistance forces in full coordination with Hizbullah fighters.

Al-Masri rejected reports which charged that Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya fighters were responsible for the rocket firing. "For the time being the battle is in Palestine. We believe that the rocket firing is intended to turn attention away from Israel's atrocities in Gaza and this does not serve our cause," said Al-Masri. Despite the end of fighting in Gaza, Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya members believe the battle has just began. Wael Nejm, a former member of Qowat Al-Fajr and a resident of Al-Hebbariyeh, says all fronts with Israel should be open.

The battle of Gaza, he explained, has a profound symbolic meaning. It aimed to crush the resistance forces in favour of those who want to continue along the course of futile negotiations. "Today it was Gaza, tomorrow it will be us, and we are getting ready for our battle."